SBT kicks off season in new digs

PORTSMOUTH — The nostalgia may be gone, but the Seacoast Basketball Tournament began its 64th season on Saturday without a hitch inside the new Connie Bean Community Center.

After 63 seasons in the small confines of the historic old building on Daniel Street, the annual tournament that features players from New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts competing in nine divisions took on a fresh feeling inside the new facility adjacent to the Portsmouth Middle School. With two courts and better amenities, the Seacoast Basketball Tournament started a new era with the same level of competition that has become expected.

“The first day of the tournament — especially as large as the one we have here — it’s just making sure everyone shows up, and so far so good,” tournament director Peter Goodwin said. “I think it’s typical Connie Bean fashion. With two gyms, we’re actually 30 minutes ahead of schedule, where in the old gym it seemed like we were always behind schedule. So it’s going very well.”

Goodwin said while it will be tough to match the atmosphere inside the cramped old building, everything the new building has should make the experience for the players and fans better.

“The facility here is awesome, it has everything,” Goodwin said. “It’d be like the old Boston Garden versus the new Boston Garden.”

Goodwin is particularly excited about the high school boys division, which got underway with a full slate on Saturday. In 11-and-12th grade division action, The Buckets defeated the Marshwood Seniors, 76-48. The Buckets are comprised of players from Spaulding, along with Winnacunnet’s Sam Knollmeyer and Rich Ruffin.

The Buckets jumped out to a 17-3 start in the first half following back-to-back 3-pointers by Ruffin and Waterman. Marshwood went on an 11-5 run to cut the lead to 31-22, but that was as close as Marshwood got.

Carrying a 34-22 lead, The Buckets opened the second half with a 10-0 run, capped off by a steal by Ruffin, who fed Waterman for a layup. The Buckets led 49-32 before Veino drained a 3-pointer.

“It was pretty fun to come out and play with new kids,” said Ruffin, a WHS junior. “We just got off to a good start and rolled. I just want to come out here and get better; that’s what I’m focused on.”With only five players compared to The Buckets’ eight, Veino noted a major difference from playing in the old building than the new one. Marshwood hasn’t played in over a month since losing to Sanford in the preliminary round of the Western Maine Class A tournament.

“None of us have played in a while, so it was kind of interesting to see what would happen,” Veino said. “The score didn’t show it, but it’s always fun to come back out and play. If we had five guys in the old building it’d be easier, but here we have to run up and down.”

Veino will be playing at Division III Thomas College (Waterville, Maine) next fall and this was his fifth time playing in this tournament. Despite the rough start for his team, he was impressed with the new facility.

“It’s cool because you can jump a lot higher than the (old) Connie Bean,” Veino said. “I’d like to play here a little bit more. I want to win one game here this year. That’s my goal.”

Marshwood will play a game in the loser’s bracket today, while The Buckets will play in the winner’s bracket next Saturday.

Ruffin is playing in his third Seacoast tournament and is also a fan of its new surroundings.

“I like it. It’s fun here,” Ruffin said. “The fun of the (old) Connie Bean was the history of it, but this is better because of the court.”

Upon entering the new building on Saturday, Goodwin’s 10-year old daughter, Kayla, remarked to her father: “This ain’t the Connie Bean,” but Saturday marked a new start to what is a strong tradition.

“We don’t have to worry about the stuff we had to worry before like the short walls when kids would go out on breakaways or layups,” Goodwin said. “This place is unbelievable. We always have good, quality teams that come here and the level of basketball is always the same.”